I read the paper yesterday about the terrible situation with the poor people of Beecher Bay being evicted. It was very well covered, the front page, the fifth page and even a couple of letters to the editor.
I was feeling this was so wrong, something should be done about this great injustice.
It was very well written and I don’t know if it was “intentional” but the stories and the rest of it really wanted to make you feel sorry for these poor victims.
And then it hit me. It’s a campground. What do these people expect? It’s not a subdivision, or even a trailer park, it’s a campground. Would you have built something in a campground at Jasper or Banff? Strike one.
Oh, and just because you stayed there for, I hope this was a typo, 67 years.
But, it’s still a campground. Which to any person living in the last 100 years means a “temporary place” to sleep for a short term, one night, a week, maybe a month, or two, not years. Its’ also a business, that can close. I call that strike two.
Then, on top of those follies it is native land. Strike three.
This sounds heartless in the context of the newspaper article, but let’s get real here. They chose to live there all this time. They chose to build stuff. They must have paid daily, weekly, or monthly. They must have known they were renting a temporary space. They must accept the responsibility for their actions, cut the losses and be happy with the gains. They had a good run “camping” there.
And to continue with the baseball analogy, you’re out! It’s time to clean up the bases. The kids are going home with the ball.
More time? In reality, they obviously should have been gone long ago. It was never intended for them to put down roots in the first place, it’s always been a campground. When is it enough?
I’m sure we can all find a way to help out Bill Mundie (gentleman with cancer) find a new suitable place to live. while he needs it. I’m sure, with the value and esteem placed on elders, held within their whole community, that they are not going to throw an ill elder to the ditch and reduce the dignity and pride of themselves.
R. Drennan
Sooke